Joe Girardi told Tyler Kepner of the New York Times that he's already plotted the Yankees starting rotation through all 162 games of the regular season. That set the wheels of Kepner's mind in motion.
The first game at the new Yankee Stadium is the Yankees’ 10th game of the season – the end of the second time through the rotation. If Chamberlain is not going to be skipped, does that mean he starts the home opener?
“I don’t really want to give up that, because a lot of things could happen in spring training that could change that,” Girardi said. “I can’t give that to you yet.”
If that's the plan, it's a great idea by Girardi. Giving Chamberlain the ball works on a couple of different fronts. For one, it might finally shut the chorus of voices who think that the best young arm on the team should be throwing 60 innings. More importantly, though, it puts a guy who has only been a Yankee front and center on one of the biggest days in franchise history. If Chamberlain's career works out, that will become a classic moment, something the Yankees are fond of exploiting, and it cements the new stadium as the home for a new generation of Yankees.
